


The Victory of Peace

by Yangs Sunglasses (Nilenium)



Category: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Childbirth, F/M, Happy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 06:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15746580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nilenium/pseuds/Yangs%20Sunglasses
Summary: Happy AU in which the war ended long before the start of the series and Yang didn't join the military. It's a different, better world. Yang and Frederica start a family. Meanwhile, Julian meets Katerose.





	The Victory of Peace

“History teaches us many valuable lessons. Thanks to it we can study the past mistakes and choose better solutions. The past determines our future as the species, as the nation, even as individuals.

“The history of humanity, unfortunately, is a history of war. Bloody, countless wars across the ages, but always following the same patterns. The reasons for starting a war are always the same. People find it easier and more profitable to fight rather than negotiate or trade. They believe there's something more important than human life, something worth dying for. The wars are ended for the opposite reason, when the people decide that there's nothing more precious than the human life.

“You might find this cynical and that is fine. The historian needs to know all the facts first, then draw conclusions and make interpretations of events. We're not only interested in what happened, but why and how and, most importantly: to what end? We need to take the history, good or bad as a lesson for ourselves, because everyday _we_ are the ones making the newest history. I am not really your teacher, I am just your guide. In here, only history is the teacher of us all.

“Today, I'd like to talk with all of you about one of my favourite lessons – the modern miracle that changed the life of humanity in this galaxy. The Treaty of Iserlohn that ended over a century of a bloody, pointless war between the Free Planets Alliance and the Galactic Empire.

“You probably wonder why I called this my favourite lesson when I spent hours upon hours extolling the greatness of ancient pre-space civilizations to you. For me, the Treaty of Iserlohn symbolizes hope for humanity. It teaches us that a few good people in the right place at the right time can make a change for the better.

“'Good people' is of course a relative term here. I doubt anyone here would agree to call the kaiser Friedrich IV a good man, but at the right time his heart was swayed to choose something that was in the interest of the galaxy, not just himself or the Empire. This can't be denied. Biographers still argue about his true reason for agreeing to negotiate with rebels, as the Empire called us once, but whether it was his mistress' plea, the losses in his military or a whim, he still did it. He showed willingness to listen and for that we should be grateful.

“On the side of the Alliance, the situation was the same. Our leaders had just as little obligation as Friedrich to stop the war. Capturing Iserlohn was more than advantageous to them. It finally secured the Alliance territory and even allowed them the possibility of preparing an invasion. However, while what Friedrich did is solely on his shoulders as his subjects had no influence over his decision, in the Alliance we have this thing called democracy. And for once, our people chose their leaders wisely. Let that be a lesson every time you're going to the voting urn...”

The door to the lecture hall burst open and banged on the wall, allowing a young blond man in. “Professor! It's time! Miss Frederica's water broke!”

The renowned professor of the Faculty of History of the Heinessen University, Yang Wen-li looked from the young man, his student, neighbour and friend Julian Mintz, to the clock. “It's too early,” he said, stupefied. He could have meant the hour, it was only ten past eight a.m. And he only got started with his lecture, but he actually was thinking about the doctor's prediction. The baby was supposed to be born next week, which is why he'd come to work this morning instead of staying with his very pregnant wife.

“Hurry, we need to go! She's on the way to the hospital!” Julian informed him, grabbed the lecture notes spread before Yang before shoving them into his bag and taking it himself.

Yang scratched his head and looked at the huge group of curious students gathered in the hall. His lectures were quite popular, even those at the most despised early hours. He was the kind of a professor that got very passionate when talking about his subject, which drew him a larger audience than he would have expected. “Well, this is the end for today. We'll continue this next week. Everyone, have a good day, and goodbye!” he told them and rushed after Julian, almost tripping on the step of the podium.

They called an automatic taxi which took them off the campus and towards the Heinessen General Hospital.

“Julian, why didn't you call me?” Yang asked, embarrassed that they had made a scene in front of his students.

“I did, but you didn't answer! So after I called for General Greenhill to take her to the hospital, I ran to get you,” Julian explained.

Julian lived next door to Yang. They had made friends after an incident with water sprinklers. The young man impressed Yang with his diligence and they quickly developed a friendship. Julian not only was taking care of his disabled father, he also worked part-time in the local cafe and excelled in his studies. And above all, he made the most delicious tea Yang had ever tasted.

General Greenhill was Yang's father-in-law. Actually, Yang's wife Frederica was also military, however she had a desk job at the Heinessen Joint HQ at the Strategic Data Analysis Center. In times of peace, Yang had no reason to worry she'd be sent out to fight somewhere far away from home and for that he was eternally grateful. He himself had almost been recruited into military academy to achieve his dream of studying history, but fortunately he was able to qualify for scholarship. Again, the peace time had benefited Yang's life because if the war still raged on, he'd have had no other choice but to become a soldier against his own will. He always thought he'd dodged the bullet with this one.

Yang met Frederica through a mutual friend and meddler extraordinaire, Alex Caselnes. Yang often joked that Caselnes should have become a professional matchmaker, not the manager of a major shipping company. Even he probably wouldn't have such a lucrative job if not for the Treaty of Iserlohn which had broken the galactic trading monopoly of Phezzan. With the Iserlohn Corridor opening for trade between the FPA and the Empire, many new shipping companies emerged within both sides of the galaxy and Phezzan lost the prominence it had gained as the only middleman during the wartime.

The trip to the hospital didn't take long, but to Yang it felt like hours, his leg vibrating with impatience. When the taxi parked on the other side of the street across the hospital, he rushed out and almost got ran over by a car. Julian hurriedly paid with his digital credit card and went after Yang.

Once they entered the reception safely, they got directions to the maternity ward, though Yang was too anxious to remember them, so Julian had to grab his sleeve and lead him to the elevator. Inside, Julian pressed the button for the third floor. Yang was tapping his foot on the floor again.

“Calm down, Professor,” Julian said. “Everything will be fine with Miss Frederica.”

“I know, I know,” Yang sighed and ran a hand over his brow. “Women are giving birth to the next generations from the very beginning of humankind, it's a completely natural process that the evolution prepared us for,” he said, as if reciting from a biology book to reassure himself. “Well, actually, it wasn't always the case. Did you hear about the cloning practice in the days before the Republic formed? When there were shortages of workers, more were cloned, but due to some legal difficulties the practice was banned and later the technology was lost...” Yang went off on a tangent. The elevator pinged and opened. Julian didn't interrupt, letting him ramble as they walked through the corridors. Talking about history distracted Yang from worrying.

“It's here,” Julian said as they reached the door numbered 320. Julian knocked two times.

The door opened to reveal Yang's father-in-law. “Wen-li! You're finally here! Come in, it just started,” he invited them in with a smile. He was the only person on the planet that called Yang by his first name. Even Frederica preferred terms of endearment.

Frederica was sitting on a special birthing chair, her face scrunched in intense concentration as the doctor was coaching her. Yang hesitated for a second, but when Frederica smiled at him, he went straight to her side. “Sorry, I'm late,” he said with a contrite look.

She grabbed his hand tightly. “Doesn't matter, the baby is coming,” she gritted out and grimaced when the next contraction twisted up her insides painfully.

“Are you the husband?” the doctor asked. Yang nodded. “You can stay then. There's too many people in here,” she addressed Greenhill and Julian. “Please wait outside.”

The two shuffled out of the room, one more reluctantly than the other. While Greenhill stayed just outside the door, awaiting the birth of his grandchild with a calm eagerness, Julian headed to the lounge. He bought himself an ice tea from a vending machine and sat in a plastic chair. As he slowly drank, he watched the news channel on TV set up in the area. The leader of a dangerous radical organization Patriotic Knights Corps was arrested. A new legislation was passed to decrease the fleet's size along with other reforms of the military. Heinessen Patriots had won their flyball match yesterday.

Julian's attention was taken off the news when a slim redhead in tiny jeans shorts walked up to the vending machine. He was furtively admiring her long legs when she suddenly kicked the automat.

“Dammit!” she cursed and kicked it again.

Julian stood up and came closer. “What's the matter?”

She gave him a distrustful glare and he couldn't help but notice that she had pretty blue eyes. “Nothing.” Then she kicked the machine again. “This piece of shit just doesn't want to give me my skittles!”

“You could call the support,” Julian suggested, pointing to the phone number glued to the side of the vending machine.

“And wait how long? Are you nuts?” she said.

Julian evaluated the situation. The girl's kicks were too weak to rock the automat enough so that the bag of skittles would fall down on their own. He took place next to her.

“Wait, if we kick together, it should work.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “Alright,” she said, a little doubtful, but willing to try this.

“On three! Two! One! Now!” Julian counted down and they kicked out together. The vending machine swayed backwards. “Again!” After the second double kick, the skittles were released and clattered into the pocket on the bottom of the automat.

“Yes!” the girl exclaimed and scooped her candies out. She turned to Julian. “Thanks for your help. I'm Katerose.”

“Julian,” he gave his name too. “And it was no problem.”

Katerose opened the bag and held it out to him. “Want some?”

“Me?” he asked in surprise. “No, thanks.”

She shrugged and popped a few skittles in her mouth. “So, who are you visiting here?” she asked.

Julian blinked, as he didn't expect she'd stick around to continue the conversation instead of being on her way. “A friend's wife is giving birth and I'm here for moral support. And you?”

“My stupid dad busted his arm playing flyball. I'm taking him home after they finish patching him up,” she said without much concern.

Julian was taken aback by her flippant attitude. He wanted to ask why she'd talk like that about her own father, but it felt too early in their acquaintance for such personal questions. Instead, he latched onto the sports part. “He plays flyball? Professional or just for fun?”

“Hmm, that's actually hard to define...” Katerose replied, only rousing his curiosity. She ate some more skittles. “I guess it's both. He's a professional, but he's not a player. He's just a coach for the team.”

“A coach? Wait, then how did he break his arm?”

“He was showing his team some move or the other and screwed up. He's a total show-off, so he got what he deserved,” she concluded and closed the candy bag.

“Aren't you a little too harsh?” Julian pointed out. He loved and respected his own father a lot, so someone being this rude about their dad grated on his nerves.

Katerose snorted. “No-pe. If you met him, you would agree with me. Anyway, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you, Julian.” She walked off, giving him a lazy wave over her shoulder.

“Bye,” Julian uttered, waving back automatically. Despite her attitude, he found her interesting to talk to. Then he realized that he didn't even get her number or a full name and with no way to track her, they probably wouldn't see each other ever again.

Julian groaned and cradled his head in a palm, then returned to wait outside room 320 with General Greenhill.

Meanwhile, Yang also had girl problems of an entirely different kind. Frederica was giving birth and he had to keep his wits around him, even though on the inside he was freaking out. He occupied himself by wiping her brow and enduring her deathly grip that had made his hand go numb some time ago.

The doctor was kneeling in front of Frederica. “Push!” she instructed.

His wife screamed and pushed, becoming red in the face from the effort.

“Again!” the doctor ordered.

“I can't! It hurts too much!” Frederica cried out, sobbing.

“It'll stop hurting after you push that kid out!” the doctor replied sternly.

“Frederica,” Yang said softly and touched her hot, damp cheek. “Don't give up, you can do this. I believe in you. You're so strong. Just a little more,” he encouraged her.

Frederica gave him a trembling little smile and a nod, then started pushing with a renewed determination.

When Yang heard the baby's first cry and the doctor gave him the wrapped newborn, it was one of the happiest moments of his life.

“Congratulations, it's a girl,” the doctor told him, correcting Yang's hold.

The baby was so small and fragile in his arms that he was afraid he'd do something wrong, but also it awakened in him the urge to protect her. This was his daughter and he already wanted to give her the stars. “Hello, little one,” he murmured tenderly.

“Hey, let me see her,” Frederica asked, slumped on the birthing chair. Her expression lit up with love when he gave her the child. “She's so beautiful...” Frederica whispered in awe, happy tears glistening in her eyes. Yang discreetly wiped his own, caused only by the overwhelming happiness of this moment.

“Did you come up with a name?” the doctor asked them. Yang and Frederica exchanged an unsure look.

“You should name her. You went through so much so she could be born,” Yang suggested to his wife.

“Actually, I had this idea for a while... What do you think about Victoria?” she asked.

“It's a great name.” Yang gently brushed the soft head of his baby daughter with one finger. “Victoria Yang,” he said, trying out the name. “It sounds good.”

“Our little Victoria,” Frederica said and kissed the baby on top of her head.

It was a fitting name. After all, her parents thought she was the greatest achievement of their lives. And in this world where the peace and good triumphed, where they never had to fight in bloody battles for freedom, that was more than enough.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for anon request on tumblr. I had a lot of fun! I'd like to return to this AU as I didn't get a chance to write about other characters.
> 
> Visit me on my tumblr: yangssunglasses.tumblr.com if you'd like to talk LOGH or have a prompt.
> 
> I will appreciate any comments :)


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